The proposal to rezone Hudson Square by Trinity Realty will reach an important benchmark on Thursday when the City Planning Commission holds a hearing on the draft Environmental Impact Statement which precedes the review and approval process for the actual rezoning proposal. The proposed rezoning would expand development potential in Hudson Square by allowing for the first time as-of-right residential development and conversions in the area, while also placing some contextual development controls in place, limiting hotel development, and in a few areas reducing the allowable bulk of new development. The proposed rezoning would allow new development as high as 320 feet tall in most of Hudson Square, and 420 feet on one site at the southern end of the neighborhood (there are currently no height limits for development in Hudson Square), which is a cause for concern for GVSHP.

Thursday’s public hearing is an important opportunity to opine on how the potential impact of the proposed rezoning should be measured, and alternatives which could be considered. GVSHP is very concerned about the impact the proposed rezoning would have on the neighboring South Village, as increasing the allowable development in Hudson Square will no doubt increase development pressure on the adjacent, low-rise South Village. GVSHP and many community groups have called for the entire South Village to be landmarked; while City moved ahead with designation of the northwestern third of the neighborhood in 2010, the remaining two-thirds of the neighborhood, including the area adjacent to Hudson Square, has been left unprotected.

The proposed Hudson Square rezoning cannot move ahead unless approved by the City Planning Commission (the majority of whose members are appointed by the Mayor) and the City Council. GVSHP has therefore written to Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn urging that the developer-requested Hudson Square rezoning not be allowed to move ahead until and unless the community-requested landmark designation of the South Village is considered.